In the era of COVID, we must be conscious of our physical closeness to others to prevent spreading the virus. America is one of the hardest-hit first world nations globally, and due to inconsistency in our leadership, cases are still high. Even though technology exists that tries to prevent the spread of COVID, the support is minimal. Since we have seen very little support for COVID awareness at a federal level, it has been left up to state governments to determine how COVID is handled. Some states are using more technology than others to monitor COVID and educate individuals.
The issue we are seeing in America around COVID is misinformation. The republican party largely has pushed to "re-open" everything without focus on the safety of all Americans. Republican leaders are telling citizens they don't need masks, even mocking them, when the CDC has stated masks, distance, and isolation are key components of safety. The "herd immunity" concept puts 15-28% of our population at risk of severe symptoms and even death. The reality is that our risk aversion is skewed due to severe levels of misinformation and poor leadership.
This app concept does not propose to change the minds of those who don't see the risks of COVID, but instead helps people who understand this risk avoid infection. The proposed app will remind people to stay 6 ft away, no matter what their spacial awareness is, and get them in the habit of keeping safe distance. The option to callout high density risk areas is designed to help avoid risk without requiring everyone to be "bought-in" to the risks of COVID.
So how could we do better? We can't change the habits of those who would choose not to change; the same is true for apps that help people save for retirement or exercise daily. However, this an important time in this generation's history in which each individual's health choices affect others. Although this app would be most successful in a country united by a desire to snuff out COVID, we can still help build safer habits with distancing reminders and information. Could we try to create an app used across the country to prevent the spread of COVID while also avoiding backlash from the government and respecting individual privacy?
We know that some needs are already broadly supported, such as:
However, these are more so supporting general education and treating people who already have COVID. We see less support for COVID prevention. Ideally, we would have the technology to help prevent people from being maskless, being closer than six feet to others, and being in busy areas (busy areas being a high density of people per space available).
We do know that there are physical guides already in place. For example, social distance spacers have been placed in public places to keep individuals six feet apart. These spacers are most often used in contexts where individuals are waiting in lines. This is a great start, but how do we ensure that people stay six feet apart in all public places? People have varying degrees of spatial awareness, so it isn't easy to maintain a consistent distance. Not only this, but the current methods do not serve people with disabilities (for example, blind people can't see these distance parameters).
To build on this use case, what if some individuals who are at higher risk for severe COVID symptoms would like to access public spaces more? Six feet of distance is an excellent standard, but the guideline is difficult to follow in compact and busy public places. How can we ensure that everyone can access to public regions that are more likely crowded? Can we help monitor areas where there are many individuals to help people avoid higher risk?
Introducing the "6-foot" native app: